The Fires of Gallifrey (slightly edited and reuploaded)
by Abbalina
Summary: The Doctor and Co. are on their way to Midnight when some wibbly wobbly readings signal that their trip may be more interesting than they bargained for.


The Fires of Gallifrey

**This story has been reposted with only some minor changes so if you are already familiar with the story, sorry, nothing new.**

**This story was written in 11's first two seasons or so. You know, back before anyone knew anything about anything.**

**I do not own Doctor Who or any of any of its characters. All rights belong to their respective owner. **

The doctor ran around the TARDIS consol flipping levers and pushing buttons seemingly at random as his two newlywed companions stood off to the side. Rory watched with interest; that sort of thing had always fascinated him. Amy, on the other hand, looked on with an irritated yet slightly amused look on her face.

"Come _on! _Why won't you tell us where we're going?" Amy almost pleaded as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Don't you like surprises any more Amelia?" the Doctor asked.

"Please!" Amy clasped her hands.

"I'll have you know that it's nothing _that _exciting."

"You know she won't give up till you tell her" Rory commented knowingly.

The Doctor smiled as he gave in "Alright I'll tell you! All we're doing is checking out some weird space readings that I got."

"Weird space readings?"Amy said skeptically and with obvious disappointment in her voice.

The Doctor's grin widened "Don't worry. That'll just be a quick stop. After that we are going to a planet called Midnight. There's this water fall there made _completely_ out of _diamonds_. Trust me, you'll love it."

Amy immediately brightened at this "Oooh, waterfalls of diamonds."

The Doctor was grateful for her renewed interest. "Yes, and there's this wonderful spa that's the best in the galaxy."

"So . . . weird space reading huh?" Rory said awkwardly from being forgotten and left out of the conversation, again. "What makes them weird?"

"Well," the Doctor started while flipping more switches and pushing more buttons "what makes them weird is that I've seen this type of reading before. I first saw these types of readings at Amy's house."

An image appeared on the screen shortly after that. The image was of empty space with a random crack in what appeared to be nothing.

"Is that what I think it is?" Amy asked as she got a closer look at the screen.

"Yes, it is."

"But I thought that we sealed all of the cracks when we jump started the universe"

"We did, but something happened that was powerful enough to crack the fabric of the universe."

"But what could possibly be strong enough to do that?" Rory asked.

"Well, that's what we're here to find out."

At that moment the TARDIS announced their arrival.

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory open the TARDIS door and look out in the vast black space. The glowing outline of the crack could be seen.

The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the crack. "Is anyone else curious about what's behind it?" he asked before the high pitched warble sounded. Instead of closing the crack right away, his curiosity got the better of him and he openedit. The cracked creaked open to sight that none of them could have imagined. They could see a large red planet, and it was completely engulfed in flames.

Amy didn't know what she was expecting to see behind it, but if she had to take a wild guess, a raging inferno wasn't anywhere near the top of her list. They could only stand and stare wide eyed with horror at the sight before them.

The light was nearly too bright to look at and the waves of heat brought water to eyes of those who looked on. The Doctor's tears blurred his vision for an entirely different reason. He cried for the species that lived on that planet: he cried for the race Time Lords that was being burned to ashes.

Their breath was stolen by the flames that licked the edges of the crack; hungering for something else to devourer. For Amy, it was as if the sight physically gripped her heart. She didn't know what this planet was, how important it was, and (especially) she didn't know that she was watching the Doctor's species die in front of her.

It took all the Doctor had to slowly raise his screwdriver once again and close the crack; sealing away the burning planet forever. There was beat of stunned silence and was broken by Rory. "What in the world was that?"

"That was my home world, in its very last moments." The Doctor said with a distant look in his eyes.

"That was you home? I thought it was destroyed a long time ago." Amy said quietly.

"It was. You forget, the cracks are not just in the fabric of the universe, but in time as well. The combination of all those Time Lords dying at once is probably what caused it to make a crack. Why it only showed up now is anyone's guess."

Amy knew that she couldn't even begin to understand what the Doctor was feeling. She'd probably want to crawl into a hole for a while f she just went through what the Doctor just did. She reasoned that he might want something to take his mind off things.

"So, this planet Midnight, how did it get its name?" Amy asked gently.

The Doctor snapped out of his distant look and launched into full on you-just-need-to-nod-like-you-understand-mode. "Well first of all, it's not actually ever midnight there. The name Midnight comes from . . ."

The Doctor explained at a million miles an hour as he started pulling levers and pushing buttons seemingly at random for the TARDIS to travel to the faraway planet Midnight.

No one of the three time travelers noticed the simmering, beautiful, golden dust that slipped through at the last second, just before the crack closed.

It twisted and twirled gracefully decorating the void space with complex designs as it almost danced toward the TARDIS. Slipping beneath the door, the dust made it just in time before it took off.

Back in the TARDIS, it never made it to its destination. Something was drawing on it's power.

"No! No! NO! What's going on here? Why isn't it working?!" the Doctor asked frantically.

"Uh, Doctor? I think that may answer your question." Rory stated as he pointed over at the swirling dust that was gathering at the door.

"Amy, Rory, get behind me. I'm not sure what this stuff is or whether or not it's dangerous."

They watched in cautious wonder as the dust started to spiral upward. It condensed and a form was beginning to take shape. Legs, torso, arms, head, hair; the shape of a young girl was slowly becoming clearer.

When she was fully formed, a single layer of the dust blew off her leaving what looked like just a normal human. She had just had time to breath a tired sigh of relief before she threw her had back and was fully engulfed by golden light.

They all knew what that light meant. It means that she would be a Time Lady. It would also mean that the Doctor isn't the last of his kind. Even though they knew what she was, it only opened up more questions for them. They wanted to know how she survived. What it meant for her to have been golden dust. More importantly, they just wanted to know about _her. _They wanted to talk to a Time Lord. Get to know what it was like on Gallifrey. The Doctor wouldn't tell them, but maybe she would.

For the Doctor, he stunned at the thought of another Time Lord still alive. The thought that he wouldn't be alone anymore was so wonderful and filled him with so much joy that he felt as though he was about to burst.

He had been suspicious of that dust the first time he saw it because it was the universe' most easily manipulative thing. It is what all things in their most basic forms look like. The last time he had seen the golden dust was with Rose when she had the Time Vortex running through her head. He saw it when she obliterated the Daleks.

They were snapped out of their thoughts when the light began to fade, in her place stood a new girl. She looked to be about sixteen years old. She had blond hair that fell in curls down to just past her shoulder blades. Her eyes were her most prominent feature; they were impossibly blue.

"Whew," the Time Lord girl said as she placed a hand against her temple wobbling slightly "that sure did take a lot out of me; more so than I would've thought."

They were about to say something or at least anything when she continued for them "I just need a moment to figure some things out." She looked at the Doctor "that's the part they never tell you when you're growing up; that you'll have to completely relearn who you are."

All the while she was walking closer to them until she was standing right in front of the Doctor. She smiled at him, but then it turned into a grimace as she clutched her chest and exhaled more golden light from the regeneration. Her knees gave out after that. The Doctor caught her just before she hit the floor and eased her down the rest of the way till she was lying on the floor of the TARDIS.

Amy and Rory looked on with concern while the Doctor on the other hand didn't seem the least bit worried by the fact that she just collapsed. "Is she going to be alright?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, she's going to be just fine." The Doctor said "All she needs is a little rest." To prove his point, her breathing became slower and her eyelids started to flutter. She closed her eyes and breathed out more gold dust light stuff.

"Before you sleep," the Doctor said just as her eyes started to close. She pried them open to answer whatever he was about to ask "can you tell me your name? I'd really like to know."

She licked her lips and replied in a breath as she fell asleep "Prodigy".

The doctor looked down at the Time Lord as she slept restlessly. He picked her up and carried her down the hall to one of the TARDIS's spare bedrooms. He had just laid her down as she exhaled more of the regeneration residue light.

He just stood there watching her sleep for a while as he stood leaning on the door frame.

Amy and Rory walked up behind the Doctor and looked over his shoulder at the sleeping girl.

"So, her name's Prodigy, your name is the Doctor, and I think I've heard you mention another Time Lord named the Master" Amy began

"Congratulations! You have managed to remember that my name's the Doctor and her name is Prodigy" The Doctor replied sarcastically "but aside from that, you really remember that comment about the Master?"

"Of course who wouldn't remember someone named the MASTER?"

The Doctor shook his head in amazement "Well enough about him, what were you going to say about our names?"

"Well," Amy started hesitantly "I was just wondering if there are any Time Lords with normal names."

"What do you mean Normal?" the Doctor asked sounding almost hurt "What's wrong with 'the Doctor'?"

"Amy, Rory, Melody, those are all normal names. The Doctor, Prodigy, and the Master are not on the other hand."

The Doctor huffed and muttered 'humans' under his breath. "All Time Lords have what you would call a 'normal' name. The title like 'the Doctor' or 'Prodigy' comes from the when the Time Lord comes of age. When they come of age, they look into the Time Vortex. This is when we chose our name. I chose the Doctor, she chose Prodigy, and we both had our reasons"

"But why not just be called be you original name?" Rory asked.

"Well that's because –"the Doctor was interrupted by Prodigy waking up.

"Hey. What's going on?" she asked as she rubbed sleep from her eyes.

"So! The sleeping girl has awaken!" the Doctor said with much enthusiasm.

Prodigy smiled at this as she walked back down the hallway to the main room of the TARDIS. The three fallowed silently, but brimming with curiosity. She leaned on the rail and waited for the onslaught of questions.

"So," the Doctor began as he lifted his eyebrows "would you like to tell me how you were able to return to your proper form after being the dust?"

Prodigy bit her lip and looked away; she knew he was going to ask that question.

"I was born with a genetic disorder called ETES, ever heard of it?"

The Doctor's eyes widened at this. He definitely knew what that was, and it explained a lot about the whole situation. It wasn't the fact that ALL the Time Lords were dying, but more of that this particular Time Lady was dying. The one thing that it didn't explain was how she lived to be this old. Normally, Time Lords with ETES don't live past the age of a few years old.

"Doctor, what's ETES?" Rory asked.

The Doctor took a deep breath and said "ETES stands for Excessive Time Energy Syndrome. All Time Lords are born with at least SOME time energy in them, and some have more than others. Time energy is what gives Time Lords the ability to see things that others can't; such as what was, what is, what will be, and what never could. It gives us the ability to speak all languages. We can only stand so much time energy inside us, so an excessive amount of it could be deadly."

Amy and Rory looked back at Prodigy; she seemed to suddenly take an interest in her shoes.

"What does that have to do with the golden dust?" Amy asked.

"It is only deadly if some of the time energy isn't released. When released, it could be used in all sorts of ways. One could, theoretically, break something down to its most basic form and rebuild it back to its original form." The Doctor answered for Prodigy.

"Why do you say theoretically?" Rory questioned.

"Because," Prodigy started answering the Rory's question "I'm the first Tine Lord with ETES to make it past my childhood. All the others were never able to release the excessive time energy."

"But _you _were able to?" Amy asked.

"Why do you think that I chose the name Prodigy?" she said with a smile.

"So, what's your story? Who _is_ the young Time Lady Prodigy?" the doctor asked leaning forward.

Prodigy's lips tilted up into a sly grin; one that seemed to say 'I know things that you don't' as she said the word that world drive the Doctor mad with curiosity "Spoilers."

Amy's eyebrows rose. There was only one person who used that saying.

" . . . Melody?" She asked hesitantly.

Prodigy jumped at the name "No no no no! That's not me. I just like the pharse"

The Doctor frowned at this. He never would have guess that she would need to keep who she was a secret. Even though she never answered the question and just said "Spoilers", the fact that she answered using that statement was a clue as to who she was. That statement meant that there was a very high chance that she knows and hangs around River Song a lot.

"Oh don't frown at me like that; you know that any information I tell you could risk changing our futures in ways that I don't think either of us wants." Prodigy said.

"So I'm guessing that since you can't tell us anything about yourself that I will meet you sometime in my future." The Doctor stated.

"No! Not at all! This is the first time I'm meeting you too! You can ask me any question you want. You just can't ask me who I am, at least not yet." Prodigy replied.

"Any question huh?" Amy asked getting a nod in return,

"How about you tell us why you replied with 'Spoilers' out of all the things that you could have said." Rory said.

"Yeah, how do you know River Song?" Amy asked.

"Well," Prodigy started "I was around eight years old and it was time for me to release some of my Time Energy. When I release my Time Energy, I can do practically anything with it. This particular time the Energy took me to someone who could actually help me with my disorder.

"It took me to Professor River Song. She taught me that if I was going to time travel with the excess Time Energy, it would rarely take me to the same person in the correct order so I'd I have to be careful as to what I said around that person" *looks at the Doctor* "and that if they asked me anything that might affect the time line of either of us I just had to say the magic word" Prodigy sat on top of the rail around the TARDIS consol.

"So, you telling us who you are could affect change your past? How do you know where we are on the Timeline?" the Doctor asked.

None of them noticed that she glanced at Amy and Rory at this.

"It's just something that I know"

After a moment of strained, unbroken silence, Prodigy startled everyone out of their thoughts.

"So what were you guys going to do before I came along with all my drama?"

"We were going to visit the Planet Midnight, ever heard of it?" the Doctor replied.

"That sounds lovely! You all wouldn't mind if I tagged along would you?" Prodigy asked hesitantly.

The Doctor smiled widely at this "I was just going to ask if you would give me the privilege of traveling with you."

Prodigy beamed brightly at this "You really mean it? I get to be a companion?"

"As long as you don't mind the fact that there is whole lot of running involved."

She looked up and smiled "Running, I can handle running."

"What about danger?" the Doctor challenged.

Prodigy leaned toward the Doctor "I eat danger for breakfast."

"Well then welcome to the TARDSI! Next stop," the Doctor spun and held his arms out "everywhere!"

"But I thought that the next stop was planet Midnight?" Prodigy said jokingly.

"You're very right! I guess everywhere will have to wait!" the Doctor said returning her smile as he joked with her.

His three companions giggled and laughed as the Doctor started the TARDIS for a trip to Midnight.

The Doctor and his three companions left the TARDIS one at a time. They each took a few moments to let the beauty of the planet just sink in. Midnight was shinning with blinding amounts of sunlight that reflected off the surface of the planet. The Doctor may have been here before, but it still took his breath away every single time.

The TARDIS was parked in the corner of the spa, away from everyone else. The room that they were in had a large pool area with a glass dome that let in enough light to make the water sparkle and shimmer, effectively giving the illusion that it was covered in thousands of diamonds, but not enough light to disintegrate them.

"So this is the oh-so fabulous spa that you were mentioning earlier?" Amy asked still examining it an awed expression.

The Doctor chuckled at this "Yes, it is. Unfortunately, we only have enough time to do one thing; take a tour guide to see the waterfall made of diamonds, or stay here for first class rest and relaxation."

"Oh! I think we should do the tour. I really want to see that waterfall." Amy said raising her hand as she contributed her vote.

"I'm still wiped out from my regeneration, so I vote that whatever you guys end up doing that I stay her for some rest." Prodigy said looking tired but still impressed with the spa.

"Yeah I'm with Prodigy on this one." Rory said looking kind of tired himself.

"What do you think Doctor? Stay here or go?" Amy asked with a 'PLEASE?' expression on her face.

The Doctor looked thoughtful as he contemplated which they should do until "So it's settled then? Amy and I go on the tour while Rory stays here with Prodigy." He turned to her and asked "Do you need me to point you in the right direction?"

She just smiled at him and replied "I _have _been here before. I think I can find my way." She nudged Rory and started walking in the correct direction. Over her shoulder she called out "See you later Doctor! I know you're going t enjoy this place Amy! "

Amy looked at the Doctor after Rory left with Prodigy "Where do we find this tour guide person?"

The Doctor smiled at and gestured to his left "Right this way."

The Doctor led Amy down a hallway and into another reception area where he got tickets for two round trips on the Diamond Waterfall tour. He then led them to the shuttle that would be their transportation.

As they got settled in their seats the Doctor said "You know this is going to be a long ride."

Amy shrugged "That's okay I can handle it, can you?"

The Doctor laughed. _Amelia Pond, the girl who waited and you're willing to wait some more_ The Doctor thought. "This isn't my first time here either. I did go on this exact tour before."

Amy looked interested "Oh really? So you're not going to be bored now are we?"

The Doctor looked rather hesitant "We never actually made it to the Diamond Waterfall."

Now Amy looked weary about asking her next question "Why"

The Doctor loosened up and replied "Oh nothing to worry about, it was just some minor technical difficulty. We just had to wait for them to come and pick us up."

The Doctor didn't notice her sigh of relief.

Prodigy and Rory were walking towards the check in counter when Rory stopped all of a sudden.

"But wait, don't we need to pay for this? I don't have any Earth money much less money for _this _planet." Rory said worriedly.

"Don't worry, I have it covered. Whenever I have to release some of my Time Energy, I release enough for a round trip here. I have enough money for both of us."

"What do you mean round trip?" Rory asked slightly confused.

"I mean," Prodigy started "I release enough Time Energy to travel here and temporarily take off some of the pressure from my built up Energy, but I don't use too much so that I'm stranded here."

Rory looked at her curiously "Maybe you could tell me how that works? The Doctor knows how it works, but I don't have the faintest idea."

Prodigy chuckled and said "Sure, but not know because it's our turn to check in."

"Oh!" Rory just now noticed that there was a huge space between him and the person ahead of him.

Prodigy started full on laughing at his expression and checked into the spa.

After paying for the spa, the first things that Prodigy did was lie out in one of the chairs by the pool, and take a nap. She was still in the first twenty four hours of her regeneration and those always took a lot out of her.

Rory on the other hand was relaxing in the hot tub part of the pool letting all the day's drama melt away in the bubbling water. There was way too much for Rory to take in at once and just spent this time allowing it all to sink in. The Doctor rarely even mentioned his home world or his people. Today, he had seen both of them and learned lots about both.

Rory couldn't imagine how the doctor stayed sane after that happening to his planet. If he had to guess, he'd say that the doctor's sanity would mostly be due to his companions. All the people around him gives him someone to talk to (even if it's not about what's bothering him), people to care for and care for him. Rory looked in Prodigy's direction where she was sleeping. He couldn't help but feel irrelevant next to her. She's the newest member of the Doctor's group and probably the most important one out of the three of them.

Him, and Amy (although he didn't like to admit it) were replaceable. After all, they're just human. The Doctor could easily find someone else to take their place. In contrast to them, Prodigy was irreplaceable. She and the doctor were the only Time Lords Left in existence. If she got hurt, she could just regenerate. She wouldn't leave because, truthfully, where else would she go? What else would she do? Her place is by the Doctor's side, or at least until she got her own TARDIS, and with Gallifrey being destroyed that was highly unlikely.

That being thought, Rory just couldn't feel any distaste toward her being the ideal companion. He sighed and closed his eyes as he rested his head back.

Prodigy yawned and opened her eyes. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes as she watched Rory get out of the water and lay down on the chair next to her.

"So . . . would now be a good time to ask about that Time Energy thing you mentioned earlier?" Rory asked somewhat awkwardly.

Prodigy laughed at his awkwardness. "Now is a _great _time to ask." She said still laughing. "Well you see, all Time Lords are born with at least _some _Time Energy in them. This allows them to do all the Time Lord stuff that they need to do. When they use some of it up, it replenishes itself.

Time Lords born with Excessive Time Energy Disorder, or ETES, the Time Energy that they have never stops building up. It's kinda like filling up a water balloon; fill it up with too much water and it pops."

Rory's eyes bulged at this. "So you're gonna . . ." he couldn't seem to make himself finish that statement.

"No! Not at all! When the pressure becomes too much, all I'd have to do is let some it out. The only reason why most kids with ETES die is that they don't know what to do when the pressure becomes too much. They usually go to the adults and, come on, what can _they _do?"

Rory still looked confused "So they die because they don't know how to release the Time Energy, but you lived because you _did_?"

Prodigy's smile broadened "Why do you think they call me Prodigy?"

After their talk, they both went to go get a massage. No spa trip is complete without one. They each also needed time to think. Rory wanted to think about what he was just told, while Prodigy just wanted to think about why kids never think to release their Time Energy when it becomes too much for them to handle.

Rory was sitting in a chair getting a shoulder rub while Prodigy was lying on a table getting a full back massage. She sighed in contentment and cracked her eyes open just enjoying the scenery. This was the reason she always came her when releasing Time Energy. If she was going to drain herself of the stuff, why not let it take her to a place where she could do some serious relaxing?

Not a second after she closed her eyes again, a loud alarm went off abruptly ending the tranquil atmosphere.

"DARN IT!" Prodigy shouted. She was _really _wanting to de-stress, but NO! Something HAD to trigger the alarm. She quickly pulled on her clothes and got off the table, meeting up with Rory. He tensed when he saw her walking up to him; she looked ready to kill.

"OKAY! WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!" Rory mentally sighed in relief that he wasn't on the receiving end of that particular Time Lady's wrath.

"What's going on?" Rory asked the nearest staff member.

"That alarm means that we've been breached from the outside." The staff member replied.

"But what could breach it from the _outside_ nothing is supposed to be able to survive the conditions." Prodigy said now somewhat calm.

"A new species has been discovered that _can._"

"Well where was the breach?"

"The breach happened in the East Wing."

"And are we safe here?" Rory asked worriedly.

"We can't really tell at this point. Now I need to report to my superiors. If you'll excuse me." The staff said and walked briskly away.

"Let me guess," Rory said looking at Prodigy in a 'PLEASE NO' kind of way "we're going to go _in _the direction of the possibly deadly monster?"

Prodigy looked sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders "Creatures to defeat, anyone?"

Rory threw his hands up "FINE! But if we die, it's your fault." He pointed at her at the last statement.

"Great. Now let's go see what ruined a perfectly good day of relaxation."

Prodigy and Rory ran in the direction of the East Wing. On the way they saw different staff members hurrying about looking worried and scared. Everyone other than them just looked plain annoyed. This was a nice spa and fairly expensive, so to have it interrupted would be pretty frustrating to pretty much all of them.

"What's the East Wing for?" Rory asked slightly winded by the running.

"The East Wing is where they have gift shops, information, transport, tours, and planetary tours like the one that the Doctor and Amy went on." Prodigy said evenly, as if the run didn't bother her at all.

"So there's a possibility that they're involved in this?"

"A very strong one. I've heard that the Doctor tends to draw danger where ever he goes." She confirmed.

Prodigy slowed to a stop as they reached another reception area.

"Now what?" Rory asked.

"We find what breached the spa and make sure that it doesn't hurt anyone"

The reception area was abandoned except for the two of them. The spa staff had evacuated all the people to keep anyone from panicking or getting hurt.

The silence was broken by the sound of someone running towards them. They each spun to face whatever was coming. Prodigy relaxed when she recognized the person as someone who worked there. The man stopped in front of and tried to catch his breath so that he could speak.

"You guys . . . shouldn't . . . be here! . . . This section . . . has been quarantined . . . due to complications. You will be notified . . . when you are allowed to return." He said in between gasps for breath.

"It's okay. We're here to help. You go on; we'll take care of it." Prodigy said to the man.

The man looked at them with doubt. He reluctantly agreed "Alright, but get out of there if there's trouble."

Prodigy nodded and the man went the way that Prodigy and Rory came.

"If it's bad enough to be quarantine, are you sure we can handle this without the Doctor?"

"First off, the Doctor is probably already there. Like I said the danger usually fallows him. Second, you don't need the Doctor; you have me!" Prodigy said the last part with a smile.

Rory on the other hand didn't look very convinced and reluctantly said "Alright. Again I say that if we die, it's totally all your fault."

Prodigy looked seriously at Rory as she said "I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you. I will take care of you."

Rory nodded "Okay. Let's go find this intruder."

She smiled and raced down the hallway that the man had run from.

The hallway that the man had run from brought them to a round junction that had ten more small hallways branching off. Each of those hallways led to a port. Five of those were for off planet transport while the other five were for planetary tours.

Hallway seven looked like it was severely damaged. The damage looked like it was caused by something trying to force its way in, which probably was the case.

They cautiously walked around the fallen pieces of ceiling. When they reached the end of the hallway, they saw a woman sitting in the corner next to the air lock. She had a blank expression and appeared to be waiting for someone.

They hesitantly walked forward. "I thought that this area was quarantined." Prodigy told her.

"I thought that this area was quarantined." She repeated.

"If you knew that it was quarantined, then why are you still here?" Prodigy asked looking slightly uneasy.

"If you knew that it was quarantined, then why are you still here?" She repeated again.

"Okay, now _that _is creepy." Rory said.

"Okay, now _that _is creepy."

Prodigy looked sharply at Rory "Rory! Stop talking. I have a really bad feeling about this."

Rory nodded.

"Rory! Stop talking. I have a really bad feeling about this."

Prodigy knelt down next to the woman and looked at her searching for any sign of, well, _anything _in her eyes. Prodigy put her fingers on the woman's temple and closed her eyes as she examined her mind.

After a few moments she gasped and let her hands fall away. Her eyes shot open and looked the woman in the eye.

Not breaking eye contact she said in a whisper "She's possessed."

"She's possessed." Somehow, hearing it from the woman made it all the freakier.

Rory looked back and forth between the two of them "You mean like a ghost?"

"You mean like a ghost?" neither of them noticed how just much quicker she was starting to repeat.

"Not a ghost, but a parasite."

"Not a ghost, but a parasite."

They each said that at the same exact time.

Prodigy couldn't look away from the woman's eyes; it was as if she had locked their gazes together. Even though Prodigy had broken the psychic link, she could still feel her mind in her own, and it scared her. The parasite's mind was numbing as it brushed prodigy's consciousness.

Rory was REALLY starting to get freaked out by this woman.

"Prodigy, I think we should leave and find the Doctor."

"Prodigy, I think we should leave and find the Doctor."

She tried her hardest to look away, to close her eyes, to do _anything _except keep looking into this creature's mind.

"No. I think we should stay here."

"No. I think we should stay here."

The woman said just before Prodigy did, and the woman smiled and said "I'm free!"

"I'm free!" Prodigy repeated while looking as motionless as the woman, or at least how she _was_. The woman started to move. Rory looked helplessly at them. The woman had a dangerous look in her eyes, almost like a predator.

Rory was frozen in fear as the woman slowly started getting up. It was the look in her eyes that truly scared him; they looked deadly and cunning. Maybe it was the fact that those eyes never left him that rooted him to the spot. That could be something that she could just do; freeze people with her eyes.

Rory knew that he needed to look away. He needed to look at anything _other _than her eyes. It took a little effort, but he looked away, and at Prodigy instead. She still sat on the floor frozen in place. She was totally helpless, except, her eyes weren't afraid.

In fact, he couldn't tell _what _she was feeling because her eyes were glowing gold. Rory blinked and sure enough her eyes were really glowing. They narrowed in concentration and the glow intensified. Rory spared a glance at the woman. The woman looked shocked and her eyes bulged, almost as if someone was chocking her.

He wearily glanced between the two of them wondering if he should be doing anything to help, and if so, what to do.

Soon a golden blast burst from her head and wrapped around the woman's head. The light was absorbed into her as she settled back on the floor. Prodigy jerked backwards and fell back onto the ground breathing deeply.

"Prodigy! Are you alright?" Rory clamped his hand on his mouth; he didn't want to be her next victim.

He looked at her carefully avoiding her eyes this time. He was surprised at the fact that she wasn't repeating anymore.

"I used . . . my remaining . . . Time Energy . . . to suppress her." Prodigy said taking gasps of air. "We need to go . . . while it's still in shock."

Rory bent down and helped her up, supporting most of her weight. Prodigy's legs wobbled and she leaned heavily on him. "I'm not use to using to using so much Time Energy at once."

"So now that you're you again, what do we do?"

Prodigy looked sadly down at the woman before answering "The woman's mind is gone. All we can do now is make sure that this entity doesn't get out."

"And how are we going to do that?"

Prodigy hesitated "We need to throw her out onto the surface of Midnight."

"But I thought that nothing can survive out there."

She looked sadly back at him with eyes that had tears threatening to spill. "That's right" she whispered.

The doctor and Amy stood leaning on the glass as they watched the cascading gems. The xtonic sunlight caught each diamond in its deadly embrace casting out the most brilliant rainbows on the abyss walls. The farther down they spiraled, the light brimming with colors and the inky blackness fought for dominance over the other. Down and down they twirled until the deep black swallowed the diamonds and the light they brought.

"Wow" Amy said breathless with awe in the magnificent sight before her "this, this is absolutely _beautiful_" Her voice was filled with wonder as she struggled to find words to describe what she was feeling.

She looked over at the Doctor and saw that he was smiling at her awestruck look on her face.

"Rory and Prodigy have no _idea_ what their missing." The doctor chuckled at that.

"I'm sure Prodigy's seen it once or twice before."

"But _still_. How could you ever not want to see _this_?"

"I'm guessing that it wouldn't be quite as enjoyable if she ended up not being able to stand because of how much energy she used."

Amy nodded thoughtfully at that. "Doctor, do you think they're all right? Rory and prodigy, I mean."

"I think she can handle Rory for a day." The Doctor said looking back at the diamond-fall.

Their thoughts were interrupted be a small voice for behind them saying "Are you the Doctor?"

They both turned to look at the young girl behind them. The girl looked to be about nine years old, she had short curly red hair, and she had a splash of freckles under two very blue eyes. The Doctor couldn't help but feel like he's seen her before.

"Yes, I'm the Doctor" he replied.

At that her smile widened like that was the best news he could have given her.

"My mommy and daddy talk about you a lot. They said that they've been looking for you for a long time."

"That's great sweety." Amy said kneeling next to the Doctor smiling "Do you know where your mommy and daddy are?"

She nodded "But they aren't here."

The Doctor and Amy looked at each other both wondering where her guardian was.

"What's your name?" Amy asked.

"Donna" she replied.

"Doctor I'm going to ask the hostess if anyone's been looking for her."

The Doctor nodded as she got up to find the hostess.

The Doctor turned back to her "So Donna. That's a pretty name. "

She blushed and quietly said "thanks"

"Are you enjoying the view?"

The girl's smile brightened "Oh very much so. But I'd like it better if my parents were here to see it too."

"I bet they are going to be jealous" the Doctor said in a mock serious tone.

Donna giggled.

At that moment the Hostess got on the loud speaker "I am sorry to inform you that we will need to head back to the Leisure Palace Spa early. There was a slight containment breach and security protocols say that all tours must head back to ensure that everybody is accounted for. You will get compensation for the interruption. That is all. Thank you."

The Doctor was about to make a comment Donna, but when he looked back she was nowhere to be found.

Amy walked up to the Hostess.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me who was with the little girl Donna? She says that she doesn't know where they are."

The Hostess looked down at her clipboard. She confused as she said "Are you sure that her name's Donna?"

It was Amy's turn to be confused and said slowly "Yes I'm sure her name's Donna. Why?"

"Because I don't have anybody listed under that name."

"Well she's this really little girl about nine years old with short curly red hair-"

The Hostess interrupted her "I know every person on this trip, and I'm sorry but, there _are _no little girls on this tour."

"So how are we going to do this?" Rory asked Prodigy.

Prodigy was sitting on the floor with her leg bouncing up and down. Her elbow rested on her still knee and her hand held her head. Prodigy's darted around the hallway occasionally squinting in thought.

"I'm trying to figure that out. I need to think of a way that we could do this without getting ourselves dragged out with her."

"Not being dragged out onto the un-survivable planet would be nice, and I'd rather not die_ again_." Now _that _statement got her attention.

"Again?" she asked lifting her head to stare at him.

"Yeah, I've died a few times."

That just made her more confused "So . . . how are you here?"

"The Doctor brought me back."

This answer seem to satisfy her since she just shrugged and resumed her leg bouncing and head holding.

"I got it! All we need to do is close off this section of the hallway, and open the door." She said looking very pleased with the plan.

Rory gave her a look "It took you _that _long to come up with that?"

"What? I've never been this low on Time juice so give me break if my thought process isn't as quick as it should be." Prodigy said now on the defense.

"Whatever" Rory shrugged "So this plan of yours, I think there are some problems with it."

"What is it?" she said.

"Well, first off she can't move and even if she could it's not like she would just _walk _out into the deadly sunlight"

Prodigy waved her hand dismissively "That's not an issue."

"Why not?"

"It's not an issue because Midnight doesn't have any air on it so opening the door would act as a vacuum and suck out anything not bolted to the floor"

"But wait,"

Prodigy sighed "_Now _what?"

"Shouldn't there by some sort of safety protocol in case that happened? In case the door somehow opened shouldn't there be something to make sure that the people here are safe?"

She nodded "There is. All we have to do is disable them for this hallway so that if anything else happens somewhere else it'll still be safe."

"And you know how to do that?"

Prodigy snorted "It would be rather stupid of me to bring it up if I didn't."

Rory raised his hands in mock surrender "Sorry. You said that you were a little out of it. Just making sure."

She grinned at that "Thanks for making sure. It was thoughtful, I guess."

Rory chuckled "Now that you're feeling well enough to make fun of me, I assume you're well enough to get this show on the road?"

"Yep" Prodigy popped the letter 'p' "let's do this"

He offered his hand and helped her up.

The closest computer was at the junction where it branched off to the other ports. Rory stood behind Prodigy as she hacked into the Leisure Palace system.

"I'll close off the hallway as close to her as I can possibly get." She said after some typing.

"And just how close is that?" Rory asked.

"Pretty close" she said not looking up from the computer.

Rory sighed at the answer that didn't really answer anything.

"I'm in!" Prodigy said excitedly "Closing off hallway, now."

After she said that Rory could hear the screech of metal on metal.

"Shutting off security protocols for section 2, area 1-7"

This action gave off no indication that anything had actually happened.

"Opening air lock 7." This time her fingers didn't immediately press the button. Instead, they hovered just above.

Rory looked between her and the computer.

"Prodigy?" he asked softly.

"Opening now." She finally said in a strained voice pushing the button.

There was a whooshing noise muffled by the door that closed off the hallway as the air and anything loose was pulled out into the xtonic sunlight.

"Prodigy?" Rory asked again looking at her tearing eyes.

She shook her head as the tears spilled and looked back at the computer. "Closing air lock." Her voice was wavered.

"Air membrane successfully being repaired." She swiped her fingers under her eyes catching the tears.

"It had to be done" Rory said more to himself than to Prodigy.

"Did it?!" she shouted back at him.

Rory reeled back at her sudden anger. Prodigy immediately felt bad for yelling at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It was my idea; my fault that she's dead now."

"But I could have stopped you. I could have said to wait for the Doctor."

Prodigy suddenly looked horrified "What is he going to say?"

Rory now shared her look of horror "I don't know."

Prodigy ran her hand through her hair "What were we thinking?"

Rory replied in barley a whisper "I don't _know_"

Prodigy sank down to the floor drawing her knees to her chest and cried. She cried for the soul that she took from the world. She could now see that the creature _wanted _them to be very afraid of it. It thought that they'd turn on each other, but instead they lashed out on her. It may have been the creature that instigated her own destruction, but they were the ones who were foolish enough to get caught in her trap.

Rory followed suit in sitting on the floor, but rather then cry like Prodigy he just stared at the floor; numb.

They sat like that for a while in silence. People came and went starting on repairs. People came and asked what happened, so Rory told them. He thought for sure that there would be some repercussions for what they did, but apparently this wasn't the first time it had happened. Medics stopped by asking if they were alright. Rory answered for the now silent Prodigy saying that they were just mourning the woman who died. It wasn't a lie.

The ride back to the spa was long and tense. The Doctor had hoped that nothing would happen this time around, but if anything _did _happen he thought that he would have been there to stop it like everything else that seems to be drawn to him.

But he _wasn't _there to stop. He _couldn't _stop it, whatever _it _was. Even though he didn't know what the exact situation was, he had a pretty good idea that it involved that parasite from his last trip to Midnight.

"So what do you think happened?" Amy asked after sometime of silence.

"I don't know. It could be one of many things. For all I know it could just be a drill"

Amy gave him a funny look "I was talking about Donna"

The Doctor gave one of the deer in the headlights looks. "Oh. Well . . . so was I"

Amy rolled her eyes at him "No but really, what do you think happened to her? This shuttle is the only way back to the spa, and the spa is the only survivable place on this planet. Where else could she have gone?"

"I don't know that either. Whatever she did I don't know what it was. She didn't appear to have a vortex manipulator, but" sighed as he leaned back in his chair "I just don't know."

"And the security breach? Do you have any idea as to what that was? Or do you really think that it's just a drill?" Amy asked.

The Doctor grinned lightly at that "No I don't think that it's just a drill. I do have an idea though about what it really is."

Amy kept looking at the Doctor waiting for him to continue "And that would be . . ." after some time she asked.

The Doctor looked hesitant to answer.

"A while back, back when I was a different man, I had taken a tour on this planet to the Diamond Waterfalls." He started.

"Yeah and you never got there because of technical difficulties. You already told me this. What does it have to do with what's happening now?"

He glanced at her quickly before looking away "That wasn't what actually happened."

Amy looked confused before asking "Well . . . then what did?"

"We never got there because creature took over our shuttle. It was able to survive out in the xtonic sunlight. It was something I had never seen before, and that in and of itself is quite a feat.

It killed the pilots and caused so much fear that it turned normal people into willing killers. The hostess sacrificed her life to kill it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Amy looked horrified "Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't tell you because I thought it was the only one of its kind. It was an anomaly. I'm sorry I lied to you but I thought it would just scare you."

Amy looked a bit hurt at that. "I thought you had more faith in me than that."

At that she leaned back in her chair and looked away signaling that the conversation was over.


End file.
